No definitive actions were taken by the U.S. or eurozone central banks to contain the eurozone debt/credit crisis

Gold and silver were headed lower to end the week as no definitive actions were taken by the U.S. or eurozone central banks.

Spot gold continued to fall Friday morning, down 0.26% and bid at $1,561.20 an ounce as of 11:19 a.m. The morning high reached $1,571.50, with the low at 1,557.10, according to Kitco market data. The London afternoon reference price was fixed at $1,565.50, $16.50 an ounce lower than Thursday’s price fixing.

Spot silver was down 0.67% and bid at $26.70. The day’s high thus far was $27.00 and the low $26.48. The London a.m. reference price was fixed at $26.81, a sharp $1.07 lower than Thursday’s reference price.

Seemingly on cue, the European Central Bank (ECB) took another monetary easing step, expanding the categories of securities it will accept as collateral on short-term loans, so-called repos, or repurchase agreements.

European finance ministers meeting in Luxembourg were clashing over new plans to contain the eurozone debt/credit crisis. Giving Greece more time to pare down its government debt is one major sticking point. How to go about lending €100 billion ($125 billion) for the Spanish government to recapitalize its banks without scaring investors away from Spanish government bonds is another. Spanish Treasury yields continued to rise to new record-highs.